How quickly we forget what we need to remember!
As we roll out the welcome mat for March, we look forward to spring. The month of expectation! Clocks spring forward, and time marches on. Before you know it, winter fades into memory, and we enjoy sunshine longer into our evenings. Yet, I find that forward pull is about more than the season or the time of day.
The human mind is wired in a way that it always looks ahead and focuses on what's next. This is a great thing when it comes to motivation and pushing us forward, but it can also mean that our accomplishments soon fade into the background. How quickly we can forget what we've achieved.
But this is where we need to take a different approach and shift our perspective.
It is worth exploring some of the underlying reasons our accomplishments fade away from memory so that we can better leverage those successes and appreciate them.
The first reason seems to be about the work itself. We minimize the work we've done. We downplay our successes, thinking they are no big deal or that anyone could have done what we did. We feel that taking pride in our work isn't the best course. We would rarely take that attitude with others. But for ourselves, quite often, we do. When we fail to understand the value of what we accomplish, it will definitely not be something we think is worth remembering or celebrating.
Another reason is that we focus too much on what we haven't achieved. This reason is definitely my downfall when it comes to what I've done. When we set goals for ourselves, we often have a list of things we want to accomplish, and it can be easy to become consumed by what we haven't yet achieved and lose sight of what we have. Unfortunately, we can also fall prey to this with others. Just like for us, we see what they missed, not the targets they hit.
The third reason we forget our successes is that we don't take the time to reflect on them. We are so busy with our daily lives that we don't take the time to think about what we're striving for or have achieved. We also don't take the time to reflect on what we've learned along the way. We are more about the doing than we are about the becoming.
Which of those do you recognize for yourself? I know I've been guilty of all of them at one time or another.
We need to learn to celebrate our achievements, no matter how small they seem and take the time to acknowledge our hard work and dedication.
Once we do that, we can better understand our abilities and be inspired to continue pursuing our goals with renewed motivation and dedication.
What achievements can you celebrate in your life today? Who can you encourage to do the same?
